Water management and retention<\/p>\n
Described as the proverbial \u201croof of Europe\u201d, Czechia sees all its rivers, streams and waterways flow out of the country \u2013 a systemic and geological drainage which makes the country particularly dependent on precipitation from above.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a significant disadvantage, because most of the water we manage has to be retained: in the landscape, soil, hydrogeological structures or water reservoirs,\u201d says<\/a> Adam Vizina, head of the hydrology department at the Water Management Research Institute.<\/p>\n Water management and retention are, therefore, key for this landlocked country, yet the authorities appear short on solutions.<\/p>\n \u201cWater will always flow away, but we can reduce our vulnerability,\u201d argues Vizina, listing measures such as slowing runoff, interconnecting water supply systems, managing water reservoirs better, or protecting the quality and quantity of groundwater.<\/p>\n The state reportedly spent 75 billion crowns (about 3 billion euros) in the past three years on drought adaptation, yet experts \u2013 including a report by the Supreme Audit Office published last March \u2013 have criticised<\/a> the slow pace and limited scope of the measures.<\/p>\n The Slovak Academy of Sciences recently released its \u201cVision for Slovakia 2040\u201d, an extensive 90-page framework document commissioned by the government of Robert Fico laying out the key policy challenges for the next 15 years.<\/p>\n Among those, the forward-looking blueprint<\/a> \u201cidentifies more frequent droughts as a key consequence of climate change and argues that strengthening water management, increasing landscape water retention and improving the resilience of agriculture and ecosystems should be central priorities for Slovakia\u2019s long-term development.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether the authorities will act on the recommendations is another matter, with experts long highlighting<\/a> key shortcomings in Slovakia\u2019s water management practices, from fragmented governance between different institutions and ministries, a lack of concrete follow-through, and scattered water data hindering real-time monitoring.<\/p>\n Czechia and Slovakia\u2019s subpar water-management has deep roots<\/a> dating back to decades of intensive farming that followed its collectivisation in the 1950s and 1960s under Communism \u2013 with all that entailed in terms of land consolidation, water erosion and reduced soil fertility, among other environmental impacts.<\/p>\n On the upside, the Czech Republic continues to receive roughly the same amount of rain on average every year as it used to, according to some estimates<\/a>. But the way, time and place it does are changing, as must the measures meant to retain and manage it more effectively, experts say: less rainfall in the spring but more in the fall, more intense precipitation during storms, but less frequent episodes of long-term and widespread rain.<\/p>\n According to Milan Vitek from the local branch of Greenpeace, Czechia might soon be faced with the choice of keeping its scarce water either in the rivers or in its fields, but won\u2019t be able to do both. \u201cAdaptation is something that we are decades behind when we could\u2019ve been much further ahead,\u201d he previously told BIRN<\/a>.<\/p>\n Water management or retention are also recently being cited as a silver bullet to solve Hungary\u2019s problems. Although Hungary\u00a0has a renewable water reservoir<\/a> of 11,833 cubic metres per person, one of the largest in Central Europe (only Slovenia and Serbia have more in the region), 95 per cent of that originates from outside and simply flows through the country.<\/p>\n The building of dams or hydroelectric power plants has been a politically sensitive issue since the controversial plan to build the Bos-Nagymaros dam on the Danube helped trigger popular revolt against the Communist government in 1990. Since then, proposals for new dams and hydropower projects have remained politically off-limits in Hungary.<\/p>\n But times are changing. Laszlo Gajdos, the new Hungarian government\u2019s environment minister, said<\/a> at the height of the extreme heat at the beginning of July that \u201cwater is one of our most valuable resources for the future\u201d.<\/p>\n